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Following the fall of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood president and government, the Saudi government is reportedly enforcing a crackdown on Islamist figures within the country, including the two prominent religious leaders – Mussen al-Awaji and Mohamad al-Arefi.

Khaled al-Matrafi, Al-Arabiya channel manger in Saudi Arabia who is known to have close contacts with the Interior Ministry and for his vague hints, tweeted on July 14, 2013:

Many thought he was referring to the Saudi Muslim Brotherhood members and other Islamist figures.

It started on July 17 with the arrest of a well-known Islamist reformist figure, Mussen al-Awaji, who, a few days before, called Saudis [ar] to sign a petition condemning the military coup in Egypt, and to “act as one Muslim body.”

At the same time, news broke about a travel ban on Mohamad al-Arefi, a very well-known figure who was in very close contact with the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood administration. He was supposed to give a series of lectures in Qatar. Journalist Abdelelah al-Qahtani tweeted: